Change is in the air After reading about the Portland's plans for food recycling and garbage pickup, my guess is that it won't be long until the City of Roses is known as the City of Rats.

RON SOESBENortheast Portland Take a break, Sarah Palin I call on my fellow Republican Sarah Palin to stop the nonsense of trying to insert herself into everything the Republican presidential candidates are doing, as she has been doing this week in Iowa.

If she wants to run for president, fine, get in. In the meantime, give the rest of the candidates a break and just go away for a while.

MUSETTE ALLEN Southeast Portland

A people person? I distinctly heard Mitt Romney say while campaigning in Iowa on Thursday: "A corporation is a person, my friend."

This didn't sound right to me, and indeed I don't think so. If we prick it, does it bleed? Hardly. If we tickle it, does it laugh? I don't think so. If we poison it, does it die? Well, maybe, in some metaphorical sense.

In any case, a corporation has no heart, it has no soul and it is not a person anymore than the Congress, an assembly of representatives of the people, is a person.

That's what this person believes.

WILL FOSTER Southeast Portland Mark Hatfield I was honored to have Sen. Mark Hatfield appoint me to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging. While we attended the conference in D.C., the senator invited the Oregon delegates to meet at his office. What an experience. His staff greeted each of us by name, and to our surprise, the senator had decided to personally take us on a special tour to the Appropriations Committee meeting room. The senator spent quite a bit of time asking and answering questions as we sat in the seats of some very famous people. I remember looking at the nameplates and realizing that the chairman of the committee was the humble, concerned and kind person sitting across from us.

Over subsequent years, I had more contact with the senator's office. I think the thing that separated him from so many other politicians was his staff. To a person, each of them represented his values, kindness, concern and professionalism.

When our small town dedicated its new library, the senator and his wife took the time to attend and were greeted by everyone as friends. I shall miss him.

LEE HAZELWOOD Stayton

Too liberal I wonder if Robert J. Samuelson knows how to write a column without using the words "liberal" or "welfare state"?

SALLY STREETERWelches

Time to go In his Aug. 8 letter, Don Beal cautions about advocating for wholesale changes in elected officials and urges us to become informed about who voted right and who voted wrong. I agree.

The problem is, they all voted wrong. Now can we throw the bums out?

STEVEN ARMBRUST Southeast Portland Looking for stability We have a small number of congressional Republicans who appear not to give a rip if our government fails versus a well-meaning president who believes that compromise no matter what or with whom is essential.

So far, this approach has brought us a downgrading of our federal government's credit rating, probably to the cheers of these same Republicans. The end does not look good for the majority of us who believe in a stable government that has made us the envy of the world.

PATRICIA LIDRICH Tigard

License to ride It will be interesting to note the reactions of politically liberal and environmentally sensitive bicyclists to the ambitions of overweening government should Portland leaders ever decide to tax and license cyclists and require them to carry insurance, as proposed by Betsy Fallon ("For safe cycling, a license to ride," Commentary, Aug. 7).

LOUIS SARGENT Northwest Portland

***** Roads and highways were designed for vehicles, not bicycles. Recently, I have read about Oregon's favorite son, Joey Harrington, being involved in a cycling/vehicle accident, and more recently, the three cyclists in Washington County and also the coast cycling fatality a few days ago.

I live on a popular weekend cycling route, and it is very dangerous trying to pass when cyclists are on my road. There can be hundreds of them. When will someone finally recognize that cyclists impeding traffic don't belong on highways. It's just that simple.

ED HAUSAFUS Eagle Creek Job focus The good news is that the president and the Congress have declared that they are firmly focused on jobs. The bad news is that they are only focused on their jobs.

GENE FORSYTHE Canby

Leave Glendoveer as is If ever the phrase, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" applied to anything, it is to Glendoveer Golf Course. Thanks to Rick Attig for his spot-on editorial sketchbook piece, "Glendoveer doesn't need a makeover" (Aug. 7). Let's hope Metro takes Attig's words to heart and sees that less, not more, is the proper course (no pun intended) of action.

ALAN WILLIS Southwest Portland Water closet I read with disbelief the article on Oregon's new floating restrooms ("Floating restrooms a relief to lake users, those downstream," Aug. 9). What I find more appalling than polluting the water with someone's "business" is the lack of business sense the $131,000 expenditure for a single restroom reflects.

It seems to me that money would be better spent in perhaps keeping another teaching position in Oregon and educating individuals to take care of "business" before they launch offshore. Not to mention the ambiance the toilet will give to the foreground of the beautiful photographs of Mount Hood reflected in Timothy Lake.